Set the sceneA recent arrival with ambitions to raise levels of sophistication in Yucatán to a new high. Get to Chablé Resort & Spa after dark and it’s like entering an enchanted forest, towering trees, dark against the star-lit sky illuminated by lanterns hung from their branches.

What’s the story?Built towards the end of the 18th-century, the colonnaded Hacienda San Antonio Chablé was a vast sisal estate in what is now mostly jungle, transformed and brought back to life in by the indie Mexican boutique brand Hamak Hotels in 2016. A sister property, Chablé Maroma, opened on the coast in 2018.

Advertisement

What can we expect from the bedrooms?All very private standalone casitas, each sleeping two adults and a child (or two children if you and they are each prepared to share a queen bed). Each has its own pool, hammock and veranda. The style is contemporary – functional rather than fabulous. The expansive bathrooms have glazed walls looking out on to jungle, with huge double showers.

Read next

First in: Mama Shelter London

How about the food and drink?Jorge Vallejo of hit restaurant Quintonil in Mexico City is notionally in charge of the main restaurant, Ixi’im, though it’s his protégé Luis Ronzón (ex Noma), who serves as chef. Order the venison tartare with sour orange, habanero chilli and avocado. There’s also a less rarefied, though also excellent option, Ki’ol, by the freeform swimming pool, strong on delicious yet virtuous salads and grilled fish. But the meals that will really linger in your memory are those cooked by Doña Eneida, a local woman and accomplished amateur cook, who prepares Yucatecan dishes over an open fire (don’t baulk at the crispy grasshoppers; in her hands they’re delicious, at least with sufficient chili and lime) using, as all the restaurants do, ingredients from the estate’s kitchen garden.

Anything stand out about the service?The staff are delightful, but this is remote rural Yucatán state, so don’t expect double-quick efficiency and infallible slickness.

What sort of person stays here?It’s like a country club for glamorous day visitors from Mérida.

What’s the neighbourhood scene like?Half an hour by car from Mérida, it is literally in the middle of nowhere, though you can borrow bikes and cycle into Chochola, a few kilometres away down a dusty road.

Anything we missed?The bright, super-smooth spa is unlike any other, and if you want supervised exercise they will lay on yoga, running, cycling, cross-training and animal-motion sessions supervised by a member of the Mexican national spinning team.

And anything you’d change?Turn down the temperature of the swimming pool. There’s no need to heat the water in a hot humid climate like this.

Is it worth it – why?If you’ve never visited Uxmal, and truly it is a wonder of the world – unlike Disneyfied Chichen Itza – and you want somewhere luxurious to stay, with world-class cooking and a first-rate spa, then this is the best option. But it is isolated. By Claire Wrathall